We would like to think that our children are safe and sound when we drop them off to school, and learning the very opposite is undoubtedly distressing.
Indeed, one US mum is so distressed and ‘enraged’ that her five-year-old managed to leave school unnoticed recently, that she is calling for the principal to be sacked.
According to Svetla Clancy, her little boy was given permission to use the bathroom one day last month by a substitute teacher.
Unaccompanied, the child wandered out of the school via a side-door and went for a walk through a nearby parkway.
It was a friend of Svetla’s who stumbled upon the little boy, and drove him back to school. The friend then immediately contacted Svetla and explained what had happened
The concerned mother told local news outlet ABC11.com: “He was missing for 20 minutes, and when she brought him back no one knew he was gone. They had no idea.”
Principal Fay Jones waited an hour until calling Svetla to explain what happened, but the interaction has left a sour taste in the mother’s mouth.
In a petition calling for Ms Jones to resign or be fired, Svetla accuses her of lying and failing to take accountability over the gaffe.
“Ms Fay Jones never called me until the end of the school day…she put my child on the bus after a traumatic experience, and lied to me about the incident. I found out the exact truth from the mum who found him,” she said.
Svetla claims that Ms Jones downplayed the incident and insisted that a member of staff promptly guided the child back to school.
An investigation has now been launched, and the substitute teacher in question has been suspended without pay, but the petition is on its way to reaching its target.
What are your thoughts? Do you think the principal should be fired over this situation?
